LEWIS Grabban felt Cherries had again been victims of a poor refereeing decision during their 0-0 draw with Championship rivals Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Grabban was denied what appeared to be a perfectly legitimate goal when he was deemed to have fouled Boro stopper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos in the build-up.

The striker netted from a tight angle after the Greek goalkeeper had unsuccessfully tried to regain possession having initially dropped the ball to prevent him carrying it out of his 18-yard box.

However, Essex-based referee Fred Graham took a different view from the majority of the Dean Court crowd and ruled out what would have been Grabban’s 16th goal of the season.

Discussing the controversial incident, which took place just before half-time, Grabban said: “It should have been a goal. The goalkeeper was scrambling to get the ball and only had one hand on it when I nicked it off him.

“He was about to go outside the area and dropped it. That was when we both went for it so I thought it was a fair challenge but the referee saw it differently. He said the goalkeeper had a hand on it and had been in control of the ball. I disagreed.

“On a personal note, it was disappointing that the goal was disallowed because it would have been nice to have had another one to my name. But the result was positive for the team and that was the main thing. These things happen and we need to move on.”

Earlier, Graham, and following consultation with linesman Dan Cook, had opted to only show Grant Leadbitter a yellow card after the Boro midfielder had petulantly kicked out at Matt Ritchie in full view of the assistant.

Asked whether he had seen the incident, Grabban joked: “No, but I heard the scream!”

He added: “Matt said he kicked him. If you kick someone off the ball, it is usually a red card. I don’t think the officials were at their best today.”

Eddie Howe said he had not witnessed the Leadbitter kick as he had turned away from the action but the Cherries boss said he had had a good view of Grabban’s disallowed effort.

“My view from seeing it live was that it should have been given,” said Howe. “I didn’t think the goalkeeper had it in both hands and under control and I thought Lewis was well within his rights to go for it. We were disappointed with the decision.”

Boro manager Aitor Karanka also said he had not seen the Leadbitter incident as he had been “speaking with my staff”.

And asked whether he felt Boro had been fortunate to see the Grabban strike chalked off, the Spaniard was non-committal and said Cherries had had more chances than his side.